Sylvester Stallone gets the band back together in "The Expendables 3," and even tries to play a new tune.

To little avail, alas. Stallone, who co-wrote the screenplay for the third installment of the franchise he envisioned, should probably be given credit for trying to breathe new life into it by introducing new characters.

It would have been a more successful idea if they were characters anybody cared about. Beyond that, though, the charm of these movies, such as it is, comes from the notion of aging action stars slugging it out between wheezes. So when Stallone brings in a new cast of mostly generic warriors, the premise, like the movie, deflates.

This time around Barney Ross (Stallone) and his ragtag unit, which includes Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Gunner (Dolph Lundgren) and Toll Road (Randy Couture), spring Doc (Wesley Snipes) from a secret prison. The movie gets its biggest laugh here, when they ask him what he was in for.

"Tax evasion," Doc lies, in a winking reference to Snipes' own legal troubles. He's nothing if not a good sport.

On the way home they stop off for another mission, where Barney is stunned to find Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), who helped him found the Expendables. Stonebanks went rogue, selling arms to the bad guys. Barney thought he killed him years ago, but evidently not.

During a battle with Stonebanks' men Caesar (Terry Crews) is gravely wounded. Barney decides his team is too long in the tooth for this kind of thing (a sentiment repeated throughout the films, even as the gang is cracking skulls). So, against their wishes, he gives them their walking papers, and brings on a new bunch to help him find Stonebanks.

Thus we are treated to the likes of Kellan Lutz, Victor Ortiz and Glen Powell, along with MMA fighter Ronda Rousey. They're fine, but they aren't the reason you come to these movies. Happily, Antonio Banderas shows up as an acrobatic killer who lies about his age to try to join forces with Barney.

Jet Li returns, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. There's also Kelsey Grammer as a guy who helps Barney find the new recruits and, best of all, Harrison Ford, in his much-discussed role as Drummer, Barney's new boss.

And don't worry, we haven't seen the last of the old guys yet.

Ford has a decent time of it, looking like he knows it's all a goof but taking it seriously enough to get by. And you can joke that it's typecasting if you like, but Gibson never disappoints as a demented villain.

The stunts, particularly in the scene that opens the film, are ever more ridiculous. In this context, that's a compliment. Director Patrick Hughes eventually succumbs to overkill (again considering the context, that's saying something).

The danger here is in making the first two "Expendables" sound like something more than slightly different riffs on the same one-note joke. They aren't. But those movies knew what audiences came for, and despite good intentions, "Expendables 3" doesn't offer enough of it.